This invention relates to fasteners and in particular to their use in connection with increasing security and/or reducing energy consumption.
There are many circumstances where it is desirable to provide an increased level of security. Examples are encountered on a daily basis in domestic situations, commercial environments, in transport, and so on. At the same time, there is worldwide concern about energy consumption and preservation of energy resources.
By way of example, in data centers within the computer industry there is a desire for security and concern about unnecessary energy consumption. A computer room may contain one or several racks for computer hardware. Many of these generate a significant quantity of heat and to maintain a suitable environment it is necessary to provide cooling. Heat increases may occur locally in a single rack, yet often the whole computer room is cooled—an unnecessary use of energy.
Lights are required by service personnel when checking, maintaining or servicing computer equipment. Often the only option is to illuminate the whole computer room, when illumination is required only in a small area, such as in or near the piece of equipment or rack being serviced.
Housings for computer hardware are typically locked. Server personnel need keys to gain access. Keys can be mislaid or forgotten, causing access problems.
When servicing has been completed, the unlocked housing should be locked, but occasionally service personnel forget to do this, resulting in a security breach.
It is an object of the present invention, at least in some embodiments, to overcome or alleviate some of these problems and to offer benefits in increased security and/or reduced energy consumption.